Writer and Director: Ol Parker Songs: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Reviewer: Stephen Bates Our wonderful Summer has just got even sunnier. It’s time to forget about high art and think about guilty pleasures, time to take another trip back musically to an era of dancing queens and disco kings, time to take in the warm sea breezes and bask ...

Reviewer: Mark Clegg As we sit in the gap between the announcement of nominations and the actual ceremony of the 2017 Tony Awards, War Paint is getting a lot of attention. Nominated for both best costume and scenic design, the main talking points are the two leading ladies both of whom are nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. ...

Reviewer: Mark Clegg Musical theatre fans on both sides of the Atlantic often need to have patience. In an age when cinema releases and TV shows can be released and broadcast simultaneously all over the world, musicals take time to travel across the pond. In the case of Matilda the Musical, Broadway had to wait two years after its West ...

Reviewer: Mark Clegg Children’s TV shows have always contained music and songs, but in the last decade or so the bar has been raised and some true writing talent has been providing genuinely great tunes that often elevate them to something that can be enjoyed by all age. Netflix has now added to the growing selection of preschool TV show ...

Reviewer: Helen Jones In 2010 Brian May produced an album Anthems with West End star Kerry Ellis providing the vocals. The album was so successful that they toured together. Now, seven years after the first album, their second album Golden Days has been released. This time it is billed as a true collaboration between the two artists. It includes two ...

Music by Alan Menken Lyrics by Glenn Slater Reviewer: Mark Clegg Based on the 1989 one-man play, the new musical version of A Bronx Tale has a startling pedigree. The musical’s book is by Chazz Palminteri who not only wrote the original play, but also wrote the screenplay for (and starred in) the 1993 movie adaptation. The show is co-directed ...

Music and Lyrics by Gayla D. Morgan Reviewer: Mark Clegg Remember 101 Dalmatians? When in the first five minutes Roger and Anita find love dog-walking in the park? Well, A Dog Story takes this idea, adds a big dose of modern cynicism and creates a musical that seems as slight as the soundtrack’s thirty minute running time. Roland (David Perlman) ...

Lyricist: Alfred Uhry Composer: Robert Waldman Reviewer: Kelyn Luther On paper, The Robber Bridegroom is an intriguing musical- based on a fairy tale and with a bluegrass-inspired music score that should have gelled perfectly. However, on listening to Roundabout Theatre Company’s recording, it’s a bit of a mess. The Robber Bridegroom is based on Eudora Welty’s novella which sets the ...